Bayhealth employees led to safety by Dover Fire Company, following flooding

Friday

Jul 12, 2013 at 5:55 PMJul 12, 2013 at 8:50 PM

Friday's torrential rain left water-clogged streets and flooded cars in its wake. The intersection of Water Street and Governors Avenue was blocked by several feet of water.

Sarah Barbansarah.barban@doverpost.com@SarahDoverPost

Friday's torrential rain left water-clogged streets and flooded cars in its wake. The intersection of Water Street and Governors Avenue was blocked by several feet of water.

A group of 20 Bayhealth employees were stranded in the hospital's education facility located at 208 Water St., according to Pam Marecki, a Bayhealth spokeswoman.

The Dover Fire Company advised that the employees leave the building and find dryer ground. Several employees braved the water but others were helped across by fire fighters.

Sandra Lyford, manager at the Box Outlet and Party Goods Store, witnessed the afternoon's events from just across the street.

"We saw the people from Bayhealth being rescued," Lyford said. "The firefighters put people over their shoulders or piggy backed them to safety across the water."

Lyford said that Friday's flooding was the worst she had seen in 26 years. The water was 3 or 4 feet deep at its highest, she said.

Lyford and several of her employees helped rescue a woman from her car; the water was waist deep, she said.

Marecki has never seen the water this high, either.

"Water Street is appropriately named," she said. "I've never had it this bad but Water Street does have some water build up when we have heavy rain."

The building was completely encompassed by water. SUVs in the employee parking lot were flooded halfway up their doors. One hundred yards away a sedan sat abandoned as a sea of water flooded to the hood.

For the moment Bayhealth is taking things as they come in regards to the Water Street property and some minor flooding that occurred at Kent General Hospital, just a few blocks away from Water Street.

"I think we will be evaluating all of our buildings and making sure everything is OK," Marecki said. "If there is some water that got in at 208 Water St., it will get cleaned up. I don't know that there was water in the building. I just know it was around it. We have a company that is already on site at the hospital getting water out and getting things cleaned up."